Forgemaster (Book 1 in the Spirit Guide Saga) Read online

  As he turned another block he smiled because the kids were still in a heated water war. The hot asphalt street was so saturated it didn’t instantly evaporate despite the oppressive sun directly overhead. The laugh of children momentarily claimed his full attention and washed his misery away.

  About ten to twelve children between the ages of six to ten were battling to the death in their bathing suits in front of a pricy condo. Their parents were over sitting under the shade of a gazebo, knocking back one drink after another and not really watching them as they should so near the road where a pedophile could so easily snatch them before anyone could intervene. Luckily there was a bench beneath an old oak out of the way where he could rest and enjoy the sounds of joy, at least for a short while.

  After a few minutes Ethan watched on as an athletic boy hurled a perfectly filled water balloon straight at a giggling six year old. She was distracted by something and moved just before getting a direct hit to the back of the head. Only when it sailed by and bounced off the sidewalk to roll into the middle of the road did she figure she could capture the enemy weapon and launch it in return. She smiled evilly and ran out to get it.

  Immediately Ethan’s heart seem to stop and fall into his stomach.

  Barreling down the road was a heavily loaded semi with a prominent 7UP advertisement displayed all over and going greatly beyond the posted speed limit. But the worst part is that the driver was too preoccupied with his cell phone while focusing on texting rather than the road… Right where the little girl ran out into the street to retrieve her ammunition. She held up her prize in victory, not seeing what was going to run her over.

  There was a choice, let her get hit and die too soon or do something.

  For Ethan, there was none. “LOOK OUT!!!” he yelled at the top of his lungs and lunged forward, dropping his coffee mug. The girl stopped and turned to Ethan with frightened wide eyes before turning towards oncoming traffic and seeing her own detailed reflection in a green bumper of an eighteen wheeler who’d yet to notice. Flying on adrenaline and fear for the girl, Ethan somehow leapt over the hood of a parked car and jumped with all he had. The girl seemed to stand frozen in time, her mouth half opened to scream her last breath.

  But just a moment before the rig ran her over Ethan’s long arms and large hands slammed against her, thrusting her forward and out of harm’s way.

  And then he hit the ground and saw a large black tire a moment before all went dark. There was a slight shooting pain… then nothing except darkness.

  Suddenly there came the unmistakable ‘woro woro woro’ sounds of a semi’s brakes locking up and its tires losing rubber on the ground to stop as soon as possible. Then as it stopped there came the cry of a girl with adults yelling “RACHIEL!!!”

  Slowly Ethan opened his eyes, realizing the darkness was from screwing them shut. He pushed himself up after learning he felt no more pain, to find a group of frightened kids and adults running to a crying little girl, but now had a name. “Rachiel.” Ethan said and sighed when he saw her get up and run into her mother’s arms. He looked at himself and found not a scratch. His shirt and jeans were still fresh and clean. All felt as it should.

  When he realized little Rachiel was fine he found himself angry and turned to the trucker and give the distracted idiot a piece of his mind and stopped cold.

  Parallel to the unbroken tire marks of the heavy 7Up truck lay for over thirty yards of blacktop was an unmistakable skid mark of fresh crimson blood and bits of flesh and bone. Between where Ethan found himself and the truck was a mangled, unrecognizable body.

  He went to throw up, but felt nothing rise within, not even bile, but he dry heaved at what happened.

  Unable to resist morbid curiosity, Ethan looked down to see he looked exactly as he did before, but no longer cast a shadow below his feet as the sun was nearly directly overhead. He knew what happened immediately, but couldn’t quite accept such proof till he went over to a nearby worried man and watched as his arm passed through solid flesh.

  Ethan learned he just died and was a ghost.

  His odd sense of humor first wondered, So am I a spirit like the classic Patrick Swayze movie Ghost? I feel like me. I feel my breath, but… I don’t smell anything, that’s wrong. I should smell fresh rubber, grass and feel heat of the sun. “Oh this isn’t good.” He muttered. “I wonder if I can spook people…” his mind stopped going down such a mischievous path when he heard the cries of fear of a mother and child. His attention turned to them.

  “Rachiel, Rachiel, look at me, are you alright?” The worried mother fussed and saw only both knees were scraped and bleeding. She held the crying girl close to ask “What happened?”

  She couldn’t answer, but one of the other children said “A man saved her.”

  “What man?” Rachiel’s father asked hurriedly.

  Ethan stood before the group on the sidewalk, but try as he might, they clearly couldn’t see or hear him. The child who saw everything quite literally ran through Ethan’s left leg and stepped carefully onto the street to say “That ma…” the boy stopped as he pointed to the mangled body and gasped, his eyes almost as wide as the girl’s before.

  The adults hurried to the street and screamed, some turned their children away from the scene. That’s when the truck driver chose that moment to see what his actions wrought and he swayed before falling on his ass in a state of complete shock. “Call 911!” someone yelled and another was already dialing.

  In a minute there came sirens from police, fire and EVAC, but Ethan already knew his place and watched along with the bystanders while a coroner was called to gather the remains of his body. The whole process lasted no more than twenty minutes as police took statements from witnesses. The firemen put bandages on the girl’s knees and left while the driver was not only caught texting from the police checking his cell, but a breathalyzer and found to be almost double the legal limit.

  The only disheartening thing Ethan felt was listening to the coroner explain how his body was captured by the front wheel, pulped, drug under before getting dislodged shortly after and all his identification in his wallet and cell was shredded instantly beyond repair from getting caught beneath as the truck decelerated.

  It meant there was no quick way to be indentified and who to inform.

  As the ruined remains of what was once human were shoveled into a bag and water sprayed on the road to wash away blood down to the gutters and the emergency responders began leaving there came a singsong voice. “Well this is certainly an unexpected surprise! You must be Ethan. Howdy!”

  He turned around at the lovely southern accent of a highly feminine woman and stopped as his jaw felt like it dropped to the ground like a Looney Tunes character to look upon true beauty. Ethan’s life would forever be changed.

  Chapter 2

  Standing before him was beyond what imagination could ever describe.

  The woman was exceedingly lofty, taller than any person he had ever met for she had the stature of an eight foot tall athletic woman of perfect proportions. She appeared in her mid twenties and wore no makeup to hide her unblemished features. But despite her impressive elevation she was curvaceous to flawlessness as her narrow waist flared to wide hips of a woman in her prime. Her breasts were average in proportioned size, but the symmetry was perfect. Her clothes were breathtaking as she wore gold threaded into a sports bra-like top that crossed her belly in an X and attached to golden pants that hugged her curves. She wore an elegant and classy pair of silvery high heels of four inches, but to her large size it would be compared on a much shorter woman as a pair of two inch heels or quite possibly one. But that is all that had a woman’s natural shape.

  Great metallic blue wings sprung from her bare back and each feather looked downy soft and Ethan couldn’t stop from imagining wanting to run his finger through them. The wings were tucked and lay flat down her whole length, adding a beautiful backdrop if one could take a picture. The curved joint apex of each wing was as higher than the very top of her head and the primary flight feathers stood just five inches from being drug along the ground. The woman’s hair was also startlingly metallic blue like her wings and short as her jaw line. Her shimmering hair framed a heart shaped face and looking at the roots proved that either she recently dyed it or it was completely natural. He felt it was the latter.

  Despite all of this, it was her face that drew him close and would forever hold him in awe. She was the epitome of true beauty and refined class. Full and generous ruby red lips were smirked like she held some private joke and just above them was a small nose that couldn’t work for anyone other than herself. High cheekbones and arched blue eyebrows added to her stunning form. Her skin was of creamy alabaster and even from the distance, he knew they would be like touching the finest silks. The luminous quality of healthy skin also revealed that she was covered in fine glitter as the sun blanketed her perfection. But like the wings and hair, Ethan understood the glints of millions of glitter was actually a natural quality of her skin.

  But it was her eyes that held him prisoner. They were like pure molten gold. Never had he seen in anyone’s eyes hold such luminous color. Her unique eyes twinkled with calm and subdued excitement at the same time. He felt drawn to her as his emotion surged in a way he never expected. If he had use of a heartbeat he knew it would be firing on all cylinders and racing like that of a horse getting chased by a pack of wolves.

  “Well, you goin’ to answer me, Darlin’ or stare blankly?” This time Ethan listened more closely to her sweet, dainty voice belonging to that of a southern belle. He never expected such a delicate sound to come from a woman of her stature. Her accent and quality belonged more on a woman of no more than four and a half to five feet.

  Shooting out of his mouth he s
aid “Damn!”

  She blinked and tilted her head some, making her loose hair shift in an adorable way. “Never had that response from a soul before.” She smirked. “Probably because I’ve never seen a soul keep his form after dyin’. Why’d you say ‘Damn’ Mr. Volorum?”

  Ethan shook his head before craning his neck back. “Because I was wrong. Angels do exist and are more gorgeous than one would imagine.”

  “Thank you for the comment, it’s flatterin’.” He watched as her wings fluffed while her cheeks dimpled some. “But it is a mistake to refer to me as an angel, not like the religious myths humans have twisted. I am a Spirit Guide, a ferry to show the departed where they will find rest for the remainder of eternity. But this circumstance has never happened to me before. Your soul retains its form.”

  Before he could respond he looked around at all the people talking. “Ma’am, can people see or hear you talking to me?”

  She burst out laughing at his ignorance, unable to contain herself. Ethan though found her laugh as wonderful as her form, which she picked up clearly from his mind and was overcome with joy. “Do you think humans who could see me wouldn’t find anything alarmin’ in my appearance? Me, a woman taller than men, with wings and blue hair? I think not. I haven’t a physical form, like yourself. Watch.” She walked confidently through people who never even blinked. She returned with a smile. “See.”

  “But if we could walk through people, why aren’t we falling through the ground? I still feel the weight of gravity on my body.”

  “Ah, you are a thinker. Souls are usually so distraught they cannot think critically once their physical form loses energy, but to answer you, it is part of becomin’ one with the Spirit World. Some of the laws you know remain, some aren’t… Strange, I’ve never had this kind of conversation before with a soul.”

  “You said that before.” Ethan pointed out. “What does that mean?”

  “Your spirit’s form remains human, somethin’ I’ve never seen or heard of. Souls naturally appear like this.” She held out a hand and gently blew from her lips. White bluish light spilled from her mouth like smoke or fog and gathered in her palm. Ethan watched as the light gathered to form a ball and almost burned a cone straight up like some kind of medieval torch or fireball. But what captivated him more was her fond expression and happiness towards the soul. “This is a human soul from an elderly man who passed over into my care this mornin’, surrounded by his whole lovin’ family. He is to be taken to the Endless Garden for his life’s deeds earned him a place where he loved forests and mountains brimmin’ with life.” She then gently breathed the spirit back inside. “Within me are twenty thousand souls that I hold to take over, just this day. Six hundred are human. Mr. Volorum…

  “Ethan.” He corrected.

  “My apologies, I’m Kanade Cerulean,” she pronounced it as Ka-na-day. “a family name, not due to my wing color.” Kanade enjoyed the way he brightened to hear her name. “What I was attemptin’ to say is that souls have never appeared to me the way you do. I protect the souls by takin’ them into myself so the journey is safe. Human souls never talk to me coherently, animals can’t entirely and I’m unsure what to do with you.”

  “Are you going to suck me into you like that old man’s soul?” he shuttered by the thought and felt bumps rise all over.

  “I cannot.” She answered calmly. Before he could ask ‘Why?’ Kanade crossed her arms and continued “I tried when you were preoccupied with watchin’ your body being collected to be disposed of. You would not be taken.”

  “So what is next, Kanade? I doubt I can remain. Every movie and book turns out badly for souls who stay.” Ethan sat down on the bench he originally took to watch some good and sighed.

  Kanade joined him, sitting on her wings as if it not only didn’t hurt, but was natural. Her long legs crossed and she sat her head on her raised knees. The short bench for her allowed it to be possible. Golden eyes calmly stayed locked on him, but they didn’t unsettle him as others would feel. Deep down he wanted to stare into them forever.

  She studied him closely, taking every inch of him in. She didn’t say a word for a full minute while studying this unique situation and enjoying the way his mind worked through the situation and how he saw her. She knew she was beautiful, but his mind spoke of so much more. Ethan had exceedingly dark brown hair with auburn undertones, cut in a simple shortness and was very thick, enough to comb to the side. It was thick with natural waves. Long eyelashes that made women envy stayed momentarily closed. He was tall for a male and had some extra girth around the middle, but not so much to be seen as unsightly. Grey, almost pale white eyes turned on her and the way he looked at her made her breast feel warm. No male had ever made her feel so calm, not even the old ones of her kind. His face was clearly masculine and had a little fat that made him seem average to other men. Neither handsome or homely, but she could understand enough that his character was kindhearted and lacked any way to be deceitful. A rare old soul she hadn’t seen in a while from his age, not counting his shape. Finally, Kanade, answered while keeping her head on her knees. “No, you cannot remain, but not for the reasons you see in human movies or books. Souls attract Chaos, demons. Demons devour souls and will likely eat yours or take you to a greater demon since your form is odd. Nevertheless, when they come, you will cease to exist once eaten. Don’t be mistaken by how I hold souls inside myself, I do not eat them. A demon destroys the soul and takes its power. Should your soul be different, they will enjoy it more than you. And you will be unable to outrun a demon, even a lesser one. Chaos would not treat you with any kindness or sympathy. But there is another issue...”

  “What now?” He said with calm fear that he didn’t let take control. “I die, demons will want to devour me because I can’t even die correctly… what’s next, you are going to say you’ll end me sooner before they get a chance?”

  “Quite an imagination you have, Ethan.” Kanade watched as when she said his name he seemed to find joy in the simple gesture and truly relaxed on the seat. “Firstly, you must know that I’m unable to do harm in any way. I haven’t the power. Demons cannot harm me, but nor can I touch them in anger. I won’t be able to stop them if they sneak up and take you from me.” She laughed as he looked fearfully over his shoulder. “Do not fear, I do not sense the taint of a denizen near us. For now, we may talk. Ethan, what I meant to explain before that brief outburst is you weren’t slated to die this day, it is why I didn’t show myself to you immediately.”

  His eyes grew at the statement. In a whisper, mostly to himself he asked “I wasn’t supposed to die?”

  “Afraid not.” Kanade sat up and flicked her wrist. A silver sheet of what looked like paper came into existence without any sound or grand effects. One moment it wasn’t there and the next it was. Kanade grabbed it on slender fingers. Clear, manicured fingernails glistened when sunlight found a hole in the leaves. She then began to read and he focused on her words rather than the dainty southern belle accent. “Ethan Volorum, currently aged thirty years, two months, four days. Born March ninth at eight pounds eight and a half ounces. Total height, six foot, two hundred and seven pounds currently. Scheduled death would be caused by heart failure at eighty three years. Alone. Never married or had children.” She glanced to gauge his reaction.

  “Well that royally sucks.” He huffed and looked across the street. “Well at least my sad life wasn’t fulfilled and found some meaning. At least Rachiel will see another tomorrow. I’m glad it’s me and not that innocent child who got hit.”

  “Aaactually…” She hesitated greatly and looked away too quickly.